The moment we’ve all been waiting for, the START Summit 2016 finally got underway at the Olma Messen in St. Gallen today. With around 1500 people coming together from around the world to join in our quest for fostering innovation, there was sure to be a lot of highlights from the first day.

Filled with energy, passion and heart, the opening video, followed by the speech of the START global president, Jonas Muff, set the tone for the conference. The stage was set for the conference to really get underway with a bang, and that is exactly what happened when our first speaker, José Luis Cordeiro took the stage. Along with blowing our minds about the research and work being done by the Singularity University on topics like genetically designed babies, eternal life and much more, he really managed to instill a feeling of optimism among the participants, saying that right now is the best time to be alive to witness the massive advances in technology that are happening.

The main stage was then handed over to the START Summiteer semi-finalists, who had 4 minutes to pitch their startups to our star-studded jury. These were deliberated on and the finalists were chosen: Minebox, Metrilus, Towsh, Kasko, Gamaya, CARZADA, ReActive Robotics and Splendit.

Other highlights included the speeches of Eric Giler of Origin Wireless and Dr. David Bosshart, both of whom talked about some technologies and trends that are taking shape, and that will shape our future. Our panel on Cyber Security also provided detailed insights of why cybersec is so important for so many industries, and how to deal with it.

The START Arena was also host to some interesting talks. Siim Sikkut, who is Digital Advisor Estonia, provided some fascinating insights into how technology and digitalization has penetrated the everyday lives of Estonians, and why they put so much effort into it. Alexander Kudlich’s speech also proved quite popular among participants, quickly causing the whole Arena to fill up.

The night was capped off with the presentation of the HSG Founder of the Year Award, which honoured the most promising founder at the HSG. Along with this, promising startups were given a chance to present themselves to the crowd. The awards, which are given out by the Startup@HSG, were for the first time being held at the START Summit.

What were some of your favourite moments of the day? Let us know by sharing on social media and using the #startsummit.